


Voltron: Mythical Heroes

by BananasFoster1



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Eventual Romance, F/M, Galaxy Quest AU, Gay Keith (Voltron), Humor, Idiots in Love, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Minor Violence, Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Space Battles, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23359894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BananasFoster1/pseuds/BananasFoster1
Summary: The stars of the cancelled sci-fi show Voltron: Mythical Heroes are thrust into peril when they're beamed aboard a real alien spacecraft. Believing the cast's onscreen adventures are historical documents of real life heroics, the desperate Alteans turn to them for help in defeating a tyrannical warlord that threatens the entire galaxy.AKA the Galaxy Quest AU that nobody asked for
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Matt Holt/Shiro
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well here we go again. I got overly enthused and published this first chapter a good six months ago but in my excitement I did a poor job of proof reading. So I'm rebooting this story with better proof reading because hey, now we all have the time. 
> 
> Hope this AU isn't too obscure for the Voltron fandom, if we're even still out there...well enjoy!

Intense music played in the background as a multi colored mechanical titan tumbled through a vortex in space. 

“Brace yourselves! We’re coming up on the end of the wormhole.” The screen split to show a pilot in each of the titan’s four limbs and one in its head. The pilot that spoke was from the green left arm, she was the youngest and shortest of the group, not older than fifteen. 

The pilots let out cries and grunts of effort as the shaking and tumbling became more and more violent. Finally the vortex opened and spit the titan out into the vastness of space. The sudden stop was nearly as jarring as the rollercoaster of a wormhole, the violent brake causing the titan to fly apart into five individual robotic lions, like a lego construction being shattered into its individual blocks.

“Is everyone okay?” The pilot from the black lion, what had been the head of the titan, called as they stilled. In contrast to the earlier pilot, this one was a man, the oldest of the group though despite the shock of white in his hair he was only in his mid twenties. He was practically a titan himself with arms as thick as trees and a torso sculpted by the gods, both features accented by the tight uniform he wore. 

Murmured assents filled the comm lines, the first real sentence not coming until the pilot of the yellow colored lion spoke. 

“We’re alive. Oh we’re alive. I can’t believe we’re alive.” He somehow managed to sound panicked even in his relief. He seemed more like the cuddly sort, not the kind to be fighting in space battles.

“That was a close one.” The red lion’s pilot agreed in a much more chipped tone. Unlike the pilot of the yellow lion, everything about this pilot was chipped, from his frown to the choppy hair cut and the scar on his jaw. 

“We had a rough ride but our damage is minimal.” The green pilot spoke again, typing vigorously on the controls in front of her.

“Alright guys let’s rendezvous with-“

“Wait-“ the pilot of the blue lion spoke up for the first time and all eyes turned to him. The almost forgotten background music stilled, emphasizing the seriousness of the moment. Like the red and yellow pilots the blue pilot was in the middle of the age range in his late teens. He was the classic young hero, holding himself like he knew he was the most dashing and dynamic one of the bunch. 

“What’re you thinking Sharpshooter?” The black lion’s pilot asked, the nickname sounding like a title of honor.

“I don’t like it...it was all too easy.”

“Too easy!?” The yellow pilot balked “I feel like I was just put through a salad spinner!”

“No, something isn’t right. I can feel it on the back of my neck. The enemy ship was too fast for us to reach the wormhole first. Everyone check for wayward energy signals.” The blue pilot ordered 

“There’s nothing there.” The red pilot snapped impatiently 

“Wait!” The young green pilot gasped “Oh. Oh no. Everyone switch to double modulated scanners.” She said and after a brief moment of fiddling with their controls everyone else was gasping too. “We’re in an area of space where astral rifts have torn into subspace. It’s like a tar pit, we were led right into a trap!”

Just as she finished talking alarms went off in every single one of the lion's cockpits.

“Hey guys I’m getting incoming vessel signals!” The yellow pilot yelled “They’re everywhere!”

And without another word an armada of enemy ships appeared before them. Blasters shot from all directions, throwing the lions and their pilots away form each other. 

“We need to form Voltron!” The black pilot yelled into the comms.

“I can’t even see you anymore!” The green pilot responded, barely audible above heavy weapons fire. 

“We need a plan!”

“There’s too many of them.” The yellow pilot gasped

“We’ll fight till the end!” The red pilot argued. The screen jumped between close ups of each of their faces, the sound of blasters getting more and more deafening, that noise taking the place of music to signal how dire the situation was.

“Activate the Quintessence.” The blue pilot yelled, the screen focusing on him as he hit the largest button in his control center.

The screen froze on that image, the sounds of the blasters being replaced with the background music again. The image faded out and a black screen with the words _To Be Continued..._ took its place. The crowd watching the screen erupted in raucous applause. 

The darkened lights of the room lit up again and the master of ceremonies took the stage. He looked a lot like the green pilot from the television show, minus the glasses and plus a ragtag scar on his cheek. 

“Woo! Well there you are! Episode sixty seven. Not seen since it first aired as the finale of season three nearly five years ago. Meant to be a two parter, the concluding episode was never filmed after the sudden cancelation of the series.” He spoke into a microphone to a large auditorium of seated fans. Many were in costumes and themed make up but others were just in t-shirts and torn denim. “Even so, our love for the Paladins of Voltron live on, so let’s get to what we’ve all been waiting for! Let’s meet our intrepid heroes!” He clapped and the cheers of the crowd only grew in strength and fervor. But the MC’s eyes were pulled off to the side where a stage hand signaled for him stretch out the intro. “But-But first-What makes a hero...” he tried to recover and calm the cheers of the crowd which were quickly going from excited to impatient “Let’s look at some clips...”

~

Lance pulled up to the convention center in a blue Jaguar, well rested and skin glowing. He parked and made his way inside, stopping to talk to a group pretty girls in mermaid costumes. He loved mermaids. Sure he was already a bit late but it took time to look as good as he did and he couldn’t ignore his fans now could he? He was sure it’d be fine.

~

Inside the convention center it was not fine. 

“Where the hell is he? An hour and a half late. An hour and a half!” Pidge paced the length of the backstage dressing room. It may have been five years since the actress played the pilot of the green lion but she hadn’t changed much. She was still by far the shortest out of all of her cast mates. 

“They are going to start eating each other out there...” Shiro was peeking through the curtain. Just like when he played the pilot of the black lion he was inhumanly handsome. Like the others he wore his a replica of his uniform from the show, the material spreading thinly over his broad shoulders. “Or they might eat your brother, sorry Pidge.” He winced in sympathy as he watched Matt, the master of ceremony, get pelted with candy wrappers as the crowd chanted to see the Paladins. 

“Don’t worry Shiro I’m sure you’ll get your chance to eat him too.” Hunk wiggled his eyebrows, Shiro turning pink sputtering while Pidge gagged. 

“God he’s such an ass.” Keith suddenly grumped from where sat on the other side of the dressing room. Whereas Pidge was a spitting volcano of pent of rage, Keith was like a rolling boil, always hot, anger and frustration bubbling like steam just below the surface.

“Hey! Don’t talk about my brother that way.” Pidge snapped and Keith looked up confused before shaking his head.

“Not Matt. Lance! Who does he think he is?” 

“Did you hear that he booked _another_ appearance without us?” Hunk informed them and received a series of enraged sputters in response.

“What? When for?” Pidge stomped her foot indignantly. The short stature definitely did not stop her from being intimidating.

“See. He’s an ass.” Keith gestured frustrated before dropping his chin into his hands and looking at himself in the dressing room mirror. His eyes roamed over the Paladin uniform and he groaned. He felt like a clown or a jester, parading himself in front of a crowd in hopes they'd throw coins or scraps of food at him in return for his entertainment.

Shiro looked away from the curtain, and Matt, in favor of looking over to Keith, eyes softening with concern. “Hey, get away from the mirror.” He said, voice gentle.

“This is such bullshit.” Keith snapped, ignoring Shiro. Shiro was always so calm and responsible, he didn't understand how angry his reflection made him feel.

“Not again” Hunk groaned, looking to Pidge in shared dread.

“I never wanted to be an actor. I was going to do something important with my life. Be a firefighter, a pilot.”

‘Trained in five kinds of combat’ Pidge mouthed to Hunk

“I’m trained in five kinds of combat. And look at me! I’m in a red and white space uniform, playing a half alien astronaut superhero! I won’t go out there again and I won’t say that stupid Blade of Marmora catchphrase again. I can’t! I won’t!” Keith declared angrily.

“At least you had a character people loved and connected with.” Shiro pointed out, even he was sounding a bit exasperated. “The last print interview I gave was six pages about my biceps and now they fit into my uniform. Nobody cares that I was the head of Voltron, the supposed leader, they just care that I’m muscular.”

Suddenly the rear stage doors swung open and Lance strolled in, all smiles as if he didn’t have a care in the world. 

“Your sharpshooter has arrived!” He announced, throwing his arms out cheerfully. “Am I too late for Keith’s revolt?” He asked just as Keith grabbed a pillow and let out a series of loud, furious curse words into it. “Guess not.” Only then did Lance notice that the others were glaring at him. “Oh, what did I do now?”

~

Matt dodged another empty soda bottle as it flew past his head, the crowd getting more and more impatient.

“For three wonderful seasons we, the viewers, developed the same affection for the Paladins of Voltron as the crew developed for each other. These weren’t just heroes, they were friends.”

~

“You are so full of shit!” Pidge stood with her hands on her hips. Everyone glaring at Lance. “Just last month you said that we always do gigs together.” 

“No, I said it’d be great if we _could_ always do them together.” Lance corrected, pulling at the collar of his uniform. He had hoped they wouldn't find out he'd taken another appearance without them. “And it’s not a big deal. It’s just a set someone built in their garage, I’ll be there for an hour at most. It’s nothing.” 

“How much of nothing? Not enough to be split between the five of us nothing?” Hunk asked, even his teddy bear nature was getting worn down by Lance’s recent behavior. He’d been taking appearance after appearance without them, shutting them out of jobs for the show they’d all been on together. There was a time when the series first started when they really had been a team that looked out for each other, now though there was a line being drawn between Lance the 'Sharpshooter' and the rest of the cast.

“What do you guys want me to say? They wanted the sharpshooter.” He gave them his finger guns which just caused the arguing to swell to the point that it became almost intelligible. 

They only stopped when they were blinded by the light of the back stage door opening again. They blinked against the sun a beat passing as they all reoriented themselves away from arguing to seeing what was going on.

Keith was trying to slip out the door while everyone was distracted.

“Keith!” Shiro started but Lance was faster, darting forward he grabbed Keith and pinned him against the open door.

“Hey, Hey bud.” Lance breathed, “You can’t just leave.”

“Bud? We are not buds! I had a way out of this farce after season one but you insisted to the producers that I was ‘essential’ and they _expanded_ my role, gave me that stupid half alien storyline!” 

“Guys. They know Lance has arrived. Matt’s calling us on stage!” Hunk informed them nervously.

“We’ll be there in a second.” Lance called, not looking away from Keith. He could hear Matt beginning the introductions, calling them out one by one. 

“Say hello to our sunshine in space, the pilot of the yellow lion. Hunk Garret!” Matt called and Hunk pushed through the curtain, waving to the crowd. 

“Heeeey, how is everyone enjoying the show?” Hunk asked the fans, trying to give everyone in back more time. 

“You need to go back out there man.” Lance said to Keith sternly. 

“And now, genius on screen and off, better known to me as my little sister Pidge but known to you as Katie Holt!” Matt called the next introduction, Pidge slapping on her glasses quickly before following Hunk on to the stage. 

“This is a ridiculous waste of my life and yours. I’m done with it.” Keith hissed back angrily

“Guys, you don’t have much time left.” Shiro warned, Matt already on the next introduction. 

“Next we have the wise and ever handsome head of Voltron Takashi Shirogane! Give him a hand!” 

Shiro took a breath and plastered on a smile before stepping out on stage. Women and even men screamed for him, some of the impassioned declarations none too family friendly. 

Lance still held Keith tightly against the back stage door “You know five kinds of combat Keith, if you really wanted to get away I’d be on the ground right now.” 

Keith glowered at him, obviously considering the pros and cons on knocking Lance on his smart ass “There’s nothing you can say that can get me to go out there.”

“We’re a team.” Lance said seriously, Keith’s jaw snapping shut. Lance internally celebrated that he seemed to have pressed the magic button.

“Put your hands together for the right hand man, pilot of the red lion, your favorite half Galran Paladin and mine...”

Keith finally shoved Lance off of him. Lance stumbled backwards a couple steps and looked at Keith hesitantly, not sure if he was going to bolt or not. 

“I know we’re team. Maybe that’s something you need to remember too.” Keith stomped back inside just as Matt announced above the eager cheers. 

“Keith Kogane!” 

Keith shoved past the curtain and practically stomped on to the stage. Lance ran back inside to peek through the fabric and watch. Even though Keith’s back was towards him he could practically see him wincing as the crowd took to chanting the Blade of Marmora motto.

“Knowledge or death! Knowledge or death!”

Thankfully the fans just assumed Keith’s sour attitude was him staying in character as he glared out over the crowd. 

“And finally. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Voted fan favorite for all three seasons and consistently the most tagged character since the show’s cancelation. Put your hands together for our Sharpshooter! Lance McClain!”

Lance quickly smoothed out his hair before strutting on to the stage. He shot peace signs at the crowd and ran to the edge of the stage, slapping hands with the fans who reached up to greet him. He loved this part of the job, seeing all these people so enthusiastic about a character he brought to life. That’s why he could never understand Keith’s point of view, to him bringing such happiness and wonder in to people’s lives was an amazing purpose to have.  
  
Behind him though the others exchanged exasperated looks. What Lance called ‘razzle dazzle’ for the fans, they saw as him hamming it up. 

~

“Why would heroes spend time in a place like this?” Amongst the fans two were out of place. Like many of the other die hards they were dressed up in intricate Voltron cosplay but there was something different about the way they held themselves. Like fish out of water. 

“You know how it is Princess. You have to mingle with the people, reassure them that their heroes care.” A ginger man with an exaggerated mustache answered the young woman he was with, her white hair standing out starkly against her darkened skin. 

“Whoa, nice costumes!” A group of teenagers passed the peculiar fans.

“Costumes? Whatever does he mean?” The young woman asked and the mustached ginger shrugged. 

~

The cast had been moved away from the stage and were now seated at long tables where they signed autographs for their fans. Hunk, Pidge, Shiro and Keith all had steady lines but Lance had a mob surrounding him. 

“You’ve got to admit it. They really do love him.” Hunk shook his head amused

“Almost as much as he loves himself.” Keith muttered

“They love him because he’s slept with most of them. They should change his nickname from Sharpshooter to Quickshot.” Pidge snorted

“Be nice. We’re in this together.” Shiro said, voice gentle but firm. 

“Please, we haven’t been in anything together in ages. We might as well be his back up dancers.” Pidge huffed and Shiro gave her a sad smile. He knew that nobody wanted to admit that the rifts between them came from a place of hurt, not genuine malice. 

Shiro looked over to Keith who was signing autographs like a machine. 

A fan in full Galra costuming, purple fur and all, gave Keith a salute. “Knowledge or Death.” He chanted, Keith snatching the picture, signing it and thrusting it back to the thrilled fan.

The next one came up. “Knowledge or-“ Keith took the picture, signed it and gave it back before they could even finish. 

Finally when Keith was lunging for the pictures before the fan could even open their mouths Shiro stepped in, putting a hand on Keith’s shoulder. 

“Remember what we talked about. Patience.” Shiro soothed and Keith took a breath. 

“Patience. Right.” He grunted but let the fans go back to reciting their mantras. 

“Hey guys!” Matt came over to through their side of the table, smartly avoiding the mob Lance was buried in. 

“Hey, cast members only on this side of the table.” Pidge stuck her tongue out at him.

“Be nice to your brother.” Shiro scolded. Pidge was a child genius pigeonholed into a playing a child genius on TV. Nobody ever took her seriously and it led to a lot of pent up anger in her personality.

“Yeah Katie be nice. Besides, I was a ‘reoccurring guest’ on the show.” Matt teased and she kicked at him. 

“I told you not to call me that!”

Shiro caught Pidge’s flying legs and put them back firmly on the ground. “Matt, do you want to sit in and sign with us?” 

“Yeah, I’d love to.” Matt sat down beside Shiro, the two smiling at each other. Pidge looked to Hunk and made mocking kissy faces behind her brother’s back.

~

Meanwhile the large group of fans surrounded Lance. The most talkative of the bunch were a group of teenagers dressed up in orange Mecha-Flex-Exo Ares fighter pilot costumes. In the show MFE fighter pilots were the earthly back ups for the Paladins of Voltron.

“Now, the trick is, if I had moved an inch the robeast would know my location. But on the other hand my team was in danger.” Lance recited dramatically as if he were recounting harrowing real events and not just scripted moments from a television show.

“How did you know what to do?” A younger fan asked with wide eyes.

“Common, where would I be without the rest of Voltron behind me?” He tugged on the kids cap. “And after all we all know what happened to that robeast on Taujeer.” He laughed and the crowd laughed with him, making noises of assent.

Lance grinned and looked over at the others to see if they were having as much fun as he was. He could barely see them through his crowd of fans but he could make out Pidge and Hunk chatting with a few fans as well as Shiro lost in a stuttering conversation with Matt. His gaze slid past them and over to Keith who, _uh oh_ , looked like he wanted to strangle a group of girls who’d cornered his section of the table. 

One of the teenagers in the MFE fighter uniforms spoke up. “Paladin, my team and I were having a dispute and were hoping you could settle it for us. In “Eye of the Storm” the teleduv-“

“Excuse me for a second guys.” Lance stood up and slipped past the crowd along the back of the table. 

“I didn’t even get to the relevant question...” the teenager mumbled. 

Lance shuffled over to where Keith was at the other end of the table, catching the tail end of what the fan was saying.  
  
“...so basically, my friends and I were wondering, in episode six “Taking Flight” we got the impression that you and the Blue Paladin kind of had a thing-“

“A-A thing!?” Keith sputtered, face turning as red as the details on his uniform. “We never has a thing!”

Lance swooped in to defuse the situation. “That’s his story at least.” He said smoothly, winking at the girls who giggled and scurried off.

“What did you tell them that for?” Keith rounded on him.  
  
The others at the table just raised the volume of their voices while answering their fan’s questions, barely glancing their way.

“Shipping is a huge part of the show, you can’t just dismiss it.” Lance shook his head.

“Well you can’t just bait them with something that isn’t there either!” Keith crossed his arms.

“It could be there if you’d let it.” Lance wiggled his eyebrows and Keith scoffed before responding in a low, angry voice. 

“That was funny when I didn’t know you.” He turned to the others “I’m taking five.” He announced and walked off, leaving a gaping Lance behind. 

“Hey, Keith, Wait a second!” Lance tried to go after him but found his pathway blocked by two fans. One was beautiful enough to stop him in his tracks, the other had a ginger mustache that was impressively coiffed.

“Mythic Hero, I must speak to you on a matter of great importance. We are Alteans, from a planet on the edge of the Great Dark Nebula and we require your help. I beseech you to come back with us to our castle, a great many lives hang in the Balance.” The beautiful woman spoke with an aristocratic air to her voice that felt out of place in the convention hall that smelled like sweat and three day old popcorn.

Lance’s brain caught up with him and he realized that she was waiting on a response. “Oh, right, this is about that gig tomorrow.” He nodded and lowered his voice “I can’t talk about that here, I’m in enough hot water for taking it already so just hammer out the rest of the details with my agent. But make sure they send a car to my house this time, last time some kid with a carriage attached to his bike came to pick me up and my hair was a disaster by the time I got to the shoot.”

“Oh...certainly but...”

“I’ll see you tomorrow then okay? Great.” Lance winked at the pretty one before sprinting off, trying to find Keith again. 

He pushed through the crowd but it felt like he was blocked at every turn. Fans called out questions to him and tried to pull him over into pictures. He couldn’t get more than two steps without people calling his name. Eventually he dodged into the men’s room to just get some peace and quiet to regather his thoughts. That peace lasted for about thirty seconds until he heard the door to the rest room opening. He ran into one of the stalls, closing the door before anyone saw him. 

The pair of guys that entered were too busy talking amongst themselves to notice him anyways, their voices echoing around the bathroom.

“What a freak show.” One laughed. “You’re right, this is hilarious. There’s so many losers in one place.”

“I know and those actors! They haven’t had a real job in five years. It’s pathetic.”

“Oh McClain is the worst. Did you see him out there? He gets off on these nerds thinking he’s some kind of great Sharpshooter. It’s just sad. And his friends...”

“They hate him! I know, did you hear them ragging on him? _Quickshot?_ ”

“He has no idea he’s a laughingstock, even to his buddies.”

There was the sound of the sink running as the guys washed their hands and made their way out of the bathroom. Their laughter ringing in Lance’s ears.

~

When Lance dragged himself back to the autograph table he saw that Keith had already returned as well. He purposefully avoided eye contact with him or anyone else as he sat back down. He signed autographs quietly, not in the mood to rev up the crowd like he normally did. 

He knew the others had been a bit tense with him lately but he hadn't realized it’d gotten so bad. 

“Paladin.”

Lance tried not to groan in annoyance as the teenagers dressed as MFE fighters approached him again. 

“As I was saying earlier. In “Eye of the Storm” the teleduv and its scaultrite lenses-“

“It’s a television show” Lance sighed, normally he loved to work out the world building aspect of the show with fans but at the moment it all just felt silly and fake. Like his friendships. “Okay? That’s all, a bunch of cardboard sets, plastic props, do you understand?”

“Yes, of course but we were just wondering-“

The kid just was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Lance felt his anger, hurt and humiliation boil over. “There is no teleduv. There are no wormholes!” He stood, hitting his hands against the table. “There is no goddamn Voltron!” He yelled.

The autograph table became deathly quiet, all eyes turned to him, for once being the center of attention felt suffocating instead of riveting. He took a shaky breath and pushed his chair back, storming out through a side door. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 2 ya'll, it's mostly a Lance centric chapter so be prepaaaaared

“I don’t know...I’ve never seen him like that before.” Shiro sighed, balancing the phone between his ear and shoulder. He just finished his evening work out routine and was cooking up something for dinner, the smells of roasting vegetables and meat filling his condo. It wasn’t a large place for an actor but it was bright and airy, decorated well for the budget he had to work with.

  
“I’ve said for years that he’s mentally unstable.” Keith responded, tone dry and frustrated. Everyone was stunned that it was Lance not him that finally lost it with a fan.

  
In contrast to Shiro’s bright city condo Keith lived in a private cabin, shack really, just outside the city. His kitchen and living room were actually just one space so he only needed to take a couple steps as he got up from the couch to go to the fridge. Searching through it he found some old cheese, sniffing it and making a face.

  
“Don’t be rude Keith. I know things with Lance have been difficult lately but it still didn’t seem in character for him. I'm worried.” Shiro sighed.

  
“And we both know he’s all about his character. Right now he’s probably taking another poor fan for a one night stand in his mansion while I eat Christmas cheese in spring.” Keith scoffed, blaming the bitterness in his mouth on the old cheese.

.

Lance did have a pretty girl in his lap but it wasn’t anywhere near what Keith was thinking.

  
“Come on Uncle Lance I want to watch Voltron!” The girl shook him back and forth with help from her brother beside them. Both kids hopped up and down and Lance laughed, his niece and nephew brightening even the worst of his days.

  
“Just one episode.” He agreed, putting on the show for them. While not technically a mansion his home was large with several bedrooms, a media room and a gourmet kitchen.

  
The kids settled down to watch the show, always their Uncle’s biggest fans. While most nights he was happy to watch the show with them, that particular evening everything just felt sour. He wondered how much of it was true, if his career already peaked, if he really was just a washed up loser unable to let go of a B grade sci-fi show. If even his friends thought he was useless...

  
“This is the best part!” His nephew piped up and Lance focused in on the screen, giving a small smile.

  
The blue Paladin was giving an impassioned speech. He mouthed the words, stumbling over a few but after five years he could still remember most of it, ending aloud “We are Voltron and whenever there is a need for us we will be there. Never give up, never surrender.”

.

As often seemed to be the case when he babysat his niece and nephew, one episode turned to two which turned to four which turned into Lance falling asleep on the media room floor beneath the kids’ tangle of limbs. He was being so thoroughly smothered by one of their legs that he almost missed the doorbell ringing. Groaning Lance got up, his neck and shoulders a mess from sleeping on the floor. Eyes still half lidded with sleep he was rubbing his neck with one hand when he opened the front door to see who could possibly be ringing this early.

He blinked, sure he must be dreaming when he saw two people dressed in full alien garb on his doorstep. They were smiling, polite and earnest. The woman’s beauty one of the only things that stopped him from slamming the door in their face and calling the police. He’d had a stalker when the show was out, it was not an experience he wanted to repeat but he was embarrassingly weak for anything beautiful.

  
“Great Paladin. I understand that this is a terrible impertinence but I beg you to hear our plea. Our people and countless others are being hunted and slaughtered by an empire led by the warlord Zarkon. He lusts for our Quintessence. We’ve arranged to meet him for negotiations but past efforts in this regard have been nothing short of disastrous. There has been much death...” there was a beat while she looked away and composed herself and Lance had to say he was impressed with her acting, though he really only completely tuned in when she said the word lust. She looked back up to him, eyes shining with unshed tears “We have secured the car.”

  
“Oh right!” Lance jumped. After yesterday’s emotional rollercoaster he’d nearly forgotten about the gig that started this mess. “The thing with the-let me comb my hair! Come inside, the kitchen is right over there, help yourself to anything in the fridge.”

  
Lance ran inside to his room and quickly got dressed. He looked in the mirror and wished he had time for his morning skin routine but time seemed to be of the essence and he didn’t want to loose out on this gig. He settled for some witch hazel and moisturizer before running back into the living room to search for his shoes. He clamored all around before finally getting on his hands and knees to look under the couches and chairs.

  
“Great Paladin, may we be of assistance?” The second alien, not the beautiful one, asked. They both had an accent Lance couldn’t quite place.

  
“You don’t happen to see another one of these laying around do you?” He waved a sneaker in the air.

  
“No, can’t say that I do.” He responded, Lance sitting back up only to see the red mustached alien looking at the _ceiling_.

  
Before Lance could address this insanity he heard the rumbling of foot steps as Nadia and Sylvio finally woke up.

  
“Who’re your friends, why are they dressed so funny?” Sylvio asked, draping himself over Lance’s shoulders. Lance stood up with him dangling off his neck and deposited him on the couch, finding his other shoe hiding behind a throw pillow in the process.

  
“These are Atlanteans-“

  
“Alteans.” Mr. Mustachio corrected

  
“Right, Alteans. They need my help defeating an evil space warlord.” Lance said dramatically, the kids loved hearing about the crazy productions the fans cooked up. “Your Mom and Dad should be back from work any minute now and I saw Abuelita out back gardening if you need anything in the mean time. I’ll see you two trouble makers later.” He poked their stomachs before following his guests out to the car they brought.

  
“Is there anything we can get you Paladin?” The beautiful one asked as they got into the car, all three of them in back.

  
“A coffee would be great. Hey, who’s driving?” He asked, craning his neck to look in the driver’s seat.

  
“I adapted your primitive automobile to be fully self automated.” The mustachioed man said proudly.

  
“No way, that’s so cool” He gawked as the car’s wheel turned on its own and drove them on to the road. He heard Pidge and Hunk discussing self driving cars before but he’d never been in one.

  
A stab of nausea hit him right in the stomach as he thought about Pidge and Hunk. He wasn’t sure whether it was guilt or hurt but thinking of his friends…or the people that used to consider him friends, just made his head and heart pulse unpleasantly. They all had a computer and appliance store opening to go to later this afternoon, maybe then he could set things right or at least begin to explain why he was taking so many solo gigs. They deserved to know...

  
“Paladin, I am Coran, before we get to the castle I would like to explain some of the history between my people and Zarkon’s empire.” Mustache man-Coran, spoke up.

  
“Okiedokie. I had a late night with a pair of Haxian Robeasts so I’m just going to close my eyes for a minute but I’m totally listening.” Lance nodded, hoping that if he just closed his eyes he could stop the corrosive thoughts running through his mind. What he didn’t count on was his night on the floor catching up to him.  
He fell back asleep before Coran finished his next sentence.

  
.

  
The next thing Lance knew he was being shaken lightly.

  
When he blinked open his eyes he was no longer in the car but a surprisingly high tech room. The walls were mostly made of a solid silver alloy except for the floor that was striped with, what seemed to him at least, like a black granite. There were blinking consoles in front of him and screens that showed maps of a ship with moving dots he had to assume stood for the live movements of crewman. He was in awe, even the Voltron set was mostly made up of green screens and ikea furniture half hazardly put together and spray painted.

  
“I am sorry to wake you but your presence is needed on the command deck.” It was the beautiful woman again, her blue and white dress flattering to say the least. And what was even more lovely was the disposable cup in her hands, steaming and smelling delicious.

  
“Please tell me that’s coffee and it’s for me.”

  
“Oh yes! This was the closest we were able to find to what you call coffee in our dispenser’s database.” She said, passing him the cup which he drank from eagerly.

  
It tasted a little off, a bit too fruity and almost grainy but it was still hot and strong. “Is this that new blend from Burundi…?”

  
“Allura. My name is Princess Allura.” She spoke a bit rushed “I'm afraid Zarkon has moved up our deadline. We are approaching his ship now, he wants an answer to his demands. Are you comfortable with everything Coran briefed you on?” She asked, guiding him down the hallway.

  
“Yeah, I got most of it in the car…” He said absently, sipping his coffee and looking around. Even the hallways were lined with glowing blue strips of floor lighting. “Zarkon’s the bad guy right?”

  
“Yes!” She sighed a bit frustrated. He felt a bit bad he wasn’t living up to her expectations as an actor but normally he was at least given a few days to look over a script, absorb his part. “He destroyed my home world, exterminated my people and is continuing on a rampage throughout the galaxy. Our coalition can only do so so much-“

  
“I get the picture.” Lance nodded quickly, sheesh, he knew he was one to talk but she was really into her character.

  
“Zarkon is only sparing our lives now because he wants the Quintessence.”

  
“Gotcha, do you have any pages or do you just want me to wing it?” He asked

  
“What are you-“ she began but broke off when the doors to their command deck opened automatically. Sweet, they even made that classic whooshing sound like the show.

  
The command deck was a perfect recreation from his time on Voltron except this was what it looked like after post production. Large glass floor to ceiling windows with a space backdrop behind them, blinking lights and exits that were supposed to lead to each of the lion’s hanger bays. There was a platform in the center of the room with seats for the five paladins as well as a work space in the center that Allura promptly stepped into.

  
“Ah there you are, Paladin, Princess, Zarkon’s ship has just arrived.” Coran said gravely, Allura seemed to be intently looking at the video monitor at her station. Maybe it was broken or something. “Would you like to don your uniform?” It took Lance a second to realize that question was addressed to him.

  
“Is it okay if we skip that part? I gotta get to Two Rivers pretty quick after this for a store opening.” He said, taking the spot on the platform in front of the viewscreen. He noted that Coran wasn’t the only alien in the room. They’d done a great job on costumes, using people of all shapes and sizes to really suggest more than one alien race. Though he did think the one actor in a dog suit was kind of pushing it.

  
“As you wish Paladin.”

  
“Wow, you guys really went all out didn’t you?” He whistled but instead of answering Allura just cleared her throat. She seemed to be getting a bit testy with him.

  
“Zarkon is hailing us.” She said gravely, giving a few swipes at her monitor until one of the windows in front of them went opaque and instead of the star background he was FaceTiming a purple Goliath. He blinked surprised, squinting a bit at the image, wondering how they got his contacts to glow violet like that.

  
“I see fear in you, This is to be expected.” Zarkon spoke in a low resonating voice. He could practically hear Coran gulping behind him. Gulping...Oh right, he was still holding his coffee cup.

  
“Do you have a cup holder?” Lance asked over his shoulder. He knew the audio guys could just cut that out in post production.

  
“Ah. I see you brought yourself a new commander. What a cowardly leader you turned out to be Princess.” Zarkon laughed low and mocking. “Not even your own kind. No matter…here are my demands and I would suggest Commander-“

  
“Paladin” He corrected and Zarkon clenched his jaw, oops seems he wasn’t supposed to interrupt.

  
“Very well _Paladin_ ” he spat the word and Lance had the oddest flashback to how Keith had begun to say his name lately. It made him wince. He didn’t know how he’d let things get so bad with his friends so quickly. He looked at his watch, not wanting to start his apology train by being late to another gig. “Think well before speaking another word. These negotiations are…tender and if I do not like what I have to hear there will be blood and pain the likes of which your small body and feeble mind cannot possibly imagine.”

  
Lance forgot himself and took a sip of his coffee, finishing it off, these guys really liked their monologues.

  
“First” Zarkon continued “I want everything the Alteans have on the Quintessence. If I find you are leaving out even a micron of data I will burn-“

  
“Alrighty, I think we’ve got the gist here.” Lance really had to hurry this up and if they wanted a more specific outcome they should have given him pages. “Lets fire lateral energy blasters and aft energy blasters both on full spread, then concentrate the blast into a single massive photon blast and why don't you throw this at them too Princess.” He winked, tossing Allura his empty coffee cup.

  
He walked out before the video screens even showed the weapons hitting their target. He hoped he didn’t ruin their scene but he couldn’t stop going over in his head how the Zarkon actor barked his title like Keith yelled his name. He wondered when he became the villain in their lives and hoped he could still fix it.

  
“Paladin?…Where are you going?” Coran was running after him, his face pale as if he was trying to absorb the magnitude of what just happened. He vaguely heard the sounds of exploding fire in the distance. They were really attentive to detail here.

  
“Home.” He said, trying to remember his way back through the hallways. He assumed the room he woke up in must be their garage.

  
“To Earth?”

  
“Yeah bud, it’s time to get back to Earth.”

  
“But Paladin…the negotiations. You fired on him…” Coran pointed out shaken

  
“You’re welcome. Do I take a left here?”

  
“Right. But what if he survives?”

  
“Oh I don’t think so, I gave him both barrels.” Lance patted his shoulder. “Did you mean right as in it's correct I go left or that I should go right?”

  
“Zarkon is extremely powerful. Maybe you’d like to wait to ensure-“

  
“Ive really got to get going. The freeway is at a standstill after noon. If he causes you any trouble again why don’t you call me.”

  
“Ah yes, the princess asked me to give you this.” Coran pressed a round device into Lance’s hand. It was white and blue like his paladin colors, they had something similar on the show. Pidge actually rigged all of theirs to work like walkie talkies, they used to drive the directors nuts with pranks. “An interstellar vox.”

  
“Thanks” Lance said, throat tight at the memories of better days.

  
“No, thank you. You’ve saved us all.” Coran said and guided Lance back to the garage.

  
Lance walked in, busy looking at the ceiling, he wondered why they went to all the trouble to make a cylindrical roof.

  
“So where did you guys get the money for all this?” Lance asked but then realized he was alone. He looked around for Coran, or the car, or another door that might lead to a secondary part of the garage but the only thing he saw was that the ground beneath his feet was glowing in a pale blue disc. “Uh…guys?” He asked slowly as the light grew brighter. And then it wasn’t just a light growing, the ground beneath him started to ooze a clear gelatinous slime. He tried to jump away from it but the goo was so sticky that it glued his feet down to the ground. “Allura? Coran?” He screamed, his voice definitely not going high pitched in panic.

  
Nobody came. The goo grew up the length of his body, conforming around his hips and shoulders, encasing him from head to toe. Once it was done it was shaped like a bullet, the goo all around him. He still had a small pocket of air to breathe but in his panic he almost forgot how. He couldn’t move, the gel sticky and icy enough that even if he could he didn’t want to shift and touch more of it than he had to.

  
Above him the cylindrical ceiling parted, revealing a rotating star field. There was a red nebula to his right and on his left a smattering of stars and even a comet. He could see nearby planets and their moons as well as other ships zipping by. The ceiling folded down on itself and didn’t stop, the walls going next. He was completely surrounded by the overwhelming vastness of space.

  
Horror, disbelief, panic and the oddest sense of euphoria filled him all at once. There were no backgrounds or virtual reality that was this realistic. He didn’t know how but he really was in space. Just as he started to accept that amazing fact he was, for no better word, launched forward into space like a rocket. Everything he’d just seen, the stars, nebula planets, all zipped past him like blip of light on a radar. He was flying through space, no green screens or computers, just him and the cosmos.

  
He wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed when he landed in his backyard only seconds later. The goo slid off of him like jello, leaving him shivering, with chattering teeth and a cold steam emanating from his body. For once he had no line or explanation waiting on the tip of his tongue. He could only stand there as he warmed back up, trying to comprehend the fact that he’d just been abducted by aliens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next, the rest of the team thinks Lance is on drugs
> 
> Well I wanted to make this story a bit different from the Galaxy Quest movie just to better fit with the Voltron characters. I didn't want Allura to be as childish as the Thermians just desperate to save her people. And I wanted Lance to have some underlying reasons for his actions other than just being self centered. I feel like in writing there needs to be more rounded characters than in movies. So that's that.
> 
> Don't forget to leave comments, it makes me write faster.

**Author's Note:**

> That was chapter one! If you enjoyed it or hated it please leave a comment down below. They're like fuel, if you're excited about a story then I'm excited about the story and write faster.


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